Tent



w. w. SMITH.

men] APPLICATIQK) Fl-LED OCT H, 129,19

Patented 5111101 UNITED STATES PATENT @FFEQE.

WALTER K. SMITH, OF ELLWQOD CITY, PENNSYLVANIA.

' TENT.

' Application filed October 11, 1919. Serial in. 329,967.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, WALTER K. SMITH, acitizen of the United States, and resident of Ellwood citly, in thecounty of Lawrence and State of ennsylvania, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Tents; and I do hereby declare the following to bea full, clear, and exact description thereof. My invention relates totents, ELIlCl'it has special reference to tents of the type having astraight ridge, from which the tent is adapted to be suspended by meansof a rope or other non-rigid support, as distinguished from the usualsolid ridge pole.

The object of my invention is to provide a tent of the class describedin which sagging of the top of the tent will be substantially prevented.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a tentconstructed 7 in accordance with one form of my inven tion; Fig. 2is alongitudinal vertical sectional view taken at the ridge of the tentshown in Fig. 1, the supporting rope being shown as extending throughthe ridge construction, but not drawn taut; Fig. 3 is a longitudinalsectional view similar to Fig. 2, but showing the supporting rope in itstaut or supporting position; Fig; 4 is a transverse vertical sectionalview of the ridge construction shown in Fig. 1; and Fig. 5 is aperspective view of a modified form of ridge construction. I

When tents having straight ridge-pole constructions, such as theordinary A-tents and wall tents, are to be transported and used atfrequent intervals, it is often desirable to dispense with the usualsupporting poles and ridge poles, and to suspend the tents from ropesstretched between trees or other convenient supports. However, it isdifiicult,'if not impossible, to maintain a supporting rope of this kindin a perfectly horizontal position, and the resultant sagging of the topof the tent is objectionable, not only because of its unsightlyappearance, but also on account of the lessened resistance to wind andwater presented by a loose and sagging tent.

According to my present invention, I have produced a tent which may besuspended from a rope or other non-rigid support and in which the top ofthe tent is maintained horizontal in spite of the necessary sagging ofthe supporting rope. To these ends, I provide the tent with aridge-piece consisting of a loop of fabric extending lengthwise of thetent ridge, the ridge-piece or loop being provided with means forconforming to the curvature of the supporting rope without distortion ofthe body of the tent. The ridge-piece may consist of a strip of canvassecured to the sides of the tent, or it may be formed from the sides ofthe tent themselves, as will more clearly be described below.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, of the drawing, the tent 1 isshown, for the purpose of illustration, as an ordinary wall tentprovided with guy ropes 2 and suspended from a rope 3, the ends of whichmay be attached to trees or other convenient supports. A ridge-piece 1extends lengthwise of the ridge of the tent and defines a space 5 forreceiving the supporting rope 3. In this modification of myv invention,the ridge-piece 4 consists of a strip of canvas, or other fabric, cutwith its two longer edges curved inwardly. When the strip is attached tothe sides of the tent, by stitching or otherwise, the longer edges ofthe strip are stretched until they are substan tially straight, as shownin Fig. 1, the result being that the space 5 defined by the ridgepiece4L is deeper at the ends of the tent than in the middle.

Fig. 2 shows the relation of the abovedescribed parts at the time whenthe rope 3 is passed through the loop or ridge-piece 4, and before therope is drawn taut; Here the top of the tent is shown as saggingsomewhat, while the top of the loop 4: is curved to a greater degree.When the rope 3 is drawn taut, the parts assume the position shown inFig. 3, the top 6 of the tent 1 being horizontal, while the loop orridgepiece 4 conforms to the curvature of the rope 3. There is thus nosagging of the tent proper, and, therefore, no wrinkling of the sides ofthe tent. If desired, the ends of the ridge-piece 4: may be providedwith cords 7 or other attaching means. for preventing the tent fromslipping lengthwise upon the rope 3.

Fig. 5 shows a modified form of tent constructed in accordance with myinvention, this form being preferred where it is desired to dispensewith even the small amount of curvature present at the top of theridgepiece, described above and shown in Fig. 1. In the modification ofFig. 5, the ridgepiece 4; is shown integral with the sides of the tent1, and is formed by stitching the sides of the tent together, as shownat 8. Obviously, the ridge-piece 4, in this modification, may, ifdesired, consist of a sepa'rate piece attached to the tent as in Fig. 1.The depth of the loop formed by the ridge piece 4 should be suflicientto receive a curved portion of the rope 3 without distortion of thecanvas. In order to provide a bearing surface for the supporting rope,the sides of the loop 4 are secured together by means of eyelets 9 orthe like, these eye lets being so disposed that a line connecting themconforms to the curve produced by the ropes 3 when the rope is stretchedto a convenient degree of tightness. Instead of the eyelets 9, othermeans may be employed for securing the sides of the ridge piece 4;together at intervals, and if desired, such attaching means may bereplaced by one or more curved rows of stitching following the path tobe occupied by the supporting rope 3.

Other modifications in the construction and arrangement of parts mayreadily be made by, those skilled in the art without de- 7 parting fromthe spirit of my. invention,

and I therefore desire that no limitations,

be imposed upon my invention, except such as are indicated in theappended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A tent having a ridge construction extending substantially the fulllength of the tent adapted for suspension froma nonrigid support andalso adapted to prevent substantial sagging of the ridge when the tentis in use.

2. A tent having a substantially straight tilinear support.

'3. A tent provided with a loop of fabric extending from end to end ofthe ridge thereof, the said loop'being adapted for suspension from acurved rope or the like while maintaining the ridge of the tentsubstantially straight.

4. A tent provided with a loop of fabric extending lengthwise of thetent at the ridge 7 thereof, the said loop being adapted toreceive arope or other support and being deeper at its ends than in the middle;

5. A tent provided with a ridge-piece of fabric secured to the sides ofthe tent at the ridge thereof, the said ridge-piece form? ing a spacelengthwise of the tent for receiving a rope or other support the saidspace being deeper at its ends than in the middle.

6. A ridge construction for tents com prising a strip of fabric cut withits two longer edges curved inwardly, said strip being secured to thesides of the tent atthe ridge thereof with its originally curved edgessubstantially straight, whereby the said strip defines a spacelengthwise'ofthe ridge of the tent,- the said space being deeper at itsends than in the middle.

In testimony whereof, I the said WALTER K. SMITH, have hereunto set myhand.

WALTER K. SMITH. Witnesses: i

RoBsoN D.'BROWN, I JoHN F. WILL.

